Green & Serene: Discover Stuy-Town

If you haven’t been there recently, you must check out the “new” Stuyvesant Town. The residential community houses thousands of New Yorkers, but also has acres of outdoor space for the enjoyment of everyone who passes through.

Over the last few years management has paid particular attention to grounds, and their efforts have paid off. New saplings stand trimmed and tall, and fresh flowers and manicured lawns abound. Truly a refuge from the concrete. The grounds are filled exercise space, including b-ball, hockey, and squash courts. Not to mention, plenty of playgrounds and green space.

The Stuy-town Oval stands at the center of it all, and Fall is the perfect time to sit on one of the many benches and enjoy a little serenity. Just because cooler winds are blowing, does not mean it’s not a great time to take in a little bit of mother nature’s work. Sure the scattered lawn chairs of summer, and blankets filled with sunbathers, are long gone, but the Oval still provides a perfect place to enjoy. They even are celebrating the season, and pumpkins and hay bales line the trees making it truly feel like Halloween is just around the corner. And on a blue skied day, the benches that surround the fountain are the perfect place to sit, and relax, and let the sun warm your face.

Oh–one more thing! Don’t forget about the Green Market that goes through fall either! Every Sunday through November Stuy-town hosts a market filled with organics and fresh fruits and veggies. Get out and enjoy it all the good stuff soon!!

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Motherhood: Embrace the Theory of Natural Consequences!

I woke kids up and then got them headed in the general direction of running water, and once immersed, I went downstairs to burn breakfast. The mornings are pretty predictable around here; washing up, head downstairs where man child Cole, a small framed 10-year old boy proceeds to eat his weight in waffles. The delicate flower, Casey, picks and stares at her food, more staring than actual picking or eating.

Now, in between buttering waffles and making PB and J (Cole had 3, along with 2 waffles this morning and yes he ate all of it) I am repeating myself to Casey, who has eaten exactly two, starving model bites of her Special K Fruit and Yogurt cereal.

And that’s when it dawned on me. Natural consequences. I wrote about it in my book, Good Enough Mother; the Perfectly Imperfect book of Parenting. Then, I was talking about allowing my children to pick out their own clothes; how I didn’t see the harm and it wasn’t a reflection on me as a parent as much as it is a reflection of them and what they like. As long as it was age and weather appropriate, what was the problem?

In fact, the Washington State Dept. of Social and Health Services says this: The use of natural and logical consequences is an effective form of discipline. It helps your child develop responsibility and a positive self-concept. It helps your child learn to problem solve ways of getting more rewards for positive behavior. It promotes self respect. It helps maintain a positive relationship between you and your child.

Well, there you go; the official results of a no doubt government funded study. The Good Enough Mother study had similar findings. If Casey doesn’t eat breakfast, she will be hungry. If she is hungry, she may feel rotten and may not be able to pay attention in school. At lunch, she will eat and feel better. Tomorrow morning, she remembers that horrid feeling in the pit of her stomach and how hard school work was in the morning. She makes a decision to eat better so as not to feel that way again. Cost of analysis: FREE Obviously this doesn’t work with all kids and you need to get a sense whether this will work for yours. But it’s a win-win for us. Casey learns a lesson about personal responsibility and there are fewer gray hairs and strained vocal cords for Good Enough Mother.

Picture: www.flickr.com

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Ready to Cook? The Natural Gourmet Institute is!

In an effort to expand my cooking skills I recently attended a 4-part cooking series which focused on several different cooking and cutting techniques. The classes were taught at The Natural Gourmet Institute For Food & Health in NYC. I absolutely LOVED the school and of course the classes.

I learned a tremendous amount of useful techniques I can add to my personal and professional library of recipes. The first session we covered pressure cooking, steaming, braising and blanching. The next session was on boiling, simmering, wilting, poaching, reducing and caramelizing. The third session focused on roasting, grilling, par-boiling, sauteing and melting. My last session focused on stir-frying, broiling, baking and toasting.

For more information on the Natural Gourmet go to www.naturalgourmetinstitute.com. Happy cooking!

About our Contributor: Rachel Lerner is a certified nutritional consultant and fitness nutrition coach. Rachel’s passion for health and healing combined with her knowledge and expertise in nutrition inspired her to create Personal Web Nutrition, a company that designs custom online nutrition services. For more information on Rachel head to http://www.personalwebnutrition.com

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